First SpaceX rocket in Florida in 2019: is the "dry launch" over?

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From Falcon Heavy to Atlas V, watch every Space Coast rocket launch of the year.
Emre Kelly, Florida today

Finally, the time has come – the rocket launches, on which the Space Coast was built, will resume. The "launch drought" that has deprived Brevard residents for two months is about to end.

After nearly two months of waiting, Space Coast is expected to resume rocket launch operations from Cape Canaveral. Scheduled for 21 February, SpaceX will launch the Indonesian communications satellite Nusantara Satu aboard a Falcon 9 rocket between 20:45 and 20:45. and 21:17 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base 40 launch complex.

This will be not only the first launch of the year in Florida, but also its first night launch since United Launch Alliance hosted an Atlas V launch in October.

More news on the space: This is one of the 7 benefits of a FLORIDA TODAY subscription

More: 5 launches of Cape Canaveral not to be missed in 2019

More: From Falcon Heavy to Atlas V, here are all Space Coast rocket launches from 2018

Here are some things to know about the "Launch Drought" and details on the first SpaceX rocket launch in 2019.

Why the "drought"?

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral Air Base early Sunday morning, December 23, 2018.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, December 23, 2018. On board was the GPS III satellite of the Air Force.

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People stand on the beach north of Cocoa Beach Pier to watch the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for the United States Air Force launched from Launch Complex 40 at the base Cape Canaveral 8:51 Sunday Morning.

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Canada's Sonja Larrivee observes the launch from the beach north of the Cocoa Beach jetty of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for the United States Air Force launched from Launch Complex 40 at the Air Force Base. Cape Canaveral 8:51 am Sunday morning.

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Kayla Thomas (center) of Cocoa stands alongside her cousins, Caleb Daigle and Hannah Leonetti of Conneticut, north of Cocoa Beach Pier, to witness the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a satellite of the global positioning system III for the United States Air Force, launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base at 8:51 am Sunday morning.

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Kristin Juneberg and her 9-year-old daughter Meja, on vacation in Sweden, stand on the beach north of Cocoa Beach Pier to witness the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for 39th US Air Force Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base 8:51 am Sunday morning.

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Tarja Sjoberg from Sweden, on the beach north of Cocoa Beach Pier, is monitoring the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Global Positioning System III satellite for the US Air Force, Launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base 8.: 51 Sunday morning.

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The last time Florida was covered with rockets hovering in space, it was in December 2018 when SpaceX launched its first national security mission. This mission saw the Air Force launch its first GPS III satellite and also Vice President Mike Pence go down to attend the event.

More: Vice President Mike Pence visited SpaceX pad 39A. Here's what he's seen

According to Pence: What is the US Space Force and how will it work?

Originally, SpaceX and NASA were targeting the first launch of an unarmed Dragon spacecraft bound for the International Space Station. The date has been postponed for testing and preparation and is no longer scheduled for March 2 at Kennedy Space Center Beach 39A.

The flight calls Demonstration Mission-1 or DM-1 and is the precursor of future crewed flights.

First Florida SpaceX mission of 2019

Instead of the DM-1 mission being the first Florida launch for 2019, SpaceX will deliver a communications spacecraft in a geostationary orbit during a 32-minute launch window, starting at 20:45. Thursday. A lunar lander, developed by Israeli non-profit SpaceIL organizations and Israel Aerospace Industries, will fly as a secondary payload.

The spacecraft of nearly 400 pounds, named Beresheet after the Hebrew word for "early," arrived in Florida last month. This is not only the country's first lunar mission, but also Israel's first privately funded mission.

If successful, Israel will join the United States, China and Russia as the only countries to hit a spacecraft on the lunar surface. It will also be the first interplanetary mission for a Falcon 9 rocket and the second SpaceX launch of the year, the first of which took off from California in January.

More: 10 good places to watch a SpaceX launch

Launch schedule: Next launches and landings in Florida

More: Archaeologists discover secrets of the past in Cape Canaveral, while they can still

Craig Rubadoux / florida today
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

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United Launch Alliance's Atlas United rocket takes off

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the mysterious

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An Orkital ATK Minotaur IV rocket takes off from the complex

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Here is a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center via

On December 15, 2017, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched

SpaceX rocket takes off from Pad 40 in Cape Canaveral

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Spectators watch Playalinda Beach as SpaceX

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from platform 39A at

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Under the setting sun, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Pad 39A to

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6:18 pm Launch of a Delta United Launch Alliance

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A one-and-a-half minute exposure of SpaceX

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View of Cocoa Beach: A Unified Launch Alliance

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United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket takes off

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A jet trail in the background resembling a rocket

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December 15, 2017, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and a dragon

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying government arms

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On September 2, 2015, a United Atlas V launch alliance

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Colorful contrails are created as a second step

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket takes off from

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United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket takes off

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A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a rocket

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United Launch Alliance rocket Atlas V launches rockets

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On July 18, 2016, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was launched

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Kennedy Space

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On January 20th, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket

Atlantis, 2nd shuttle launch night, November 26

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View of a night launch of El Leoncito in Titusville.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sitting on pad 39A at Kennedy

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Launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from launch pad

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Wednesday night launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Pad 39A Kennedy

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Crowds attend the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket since Kennedy

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off Thursday at 10am

Launch of Orbital ATK Minotaur IV rocket from

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Pad

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket crosses the clouds

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The launch of a Falcon 9 rocket by SpaceX taken off

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People lined the beach of Cape Canaveral to watch the

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket off Cape Canaveral

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sitting on the platform at Cape Canaveral

Spectators on cocoa beach near Minuteman Causeway watching

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Spectators and birds on the cocoa beach near Minuteman

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Spectators on cocoa beach near Minuteman Causeway

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December 2017: a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fired from Kennedy Space

During his last mission on March 6, 2018, SpaceX

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Photographers and fishermen watch the drone enter

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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral

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SpaceX's new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, takes off

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The new SpaceX rocket, the Falcon Heavy, took off from

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SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches demo

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Two of Falcon Heavy's boosters return to Cape Town

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Two propellers from SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket

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Stay tuned for the launch of SpaceX Falcon Heavy

Last year, hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the Space Coast to witness the red Tesla blast launched by General Manager Elon Musk aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket in orbit in the deep space.

Now, the world will again witness the explosion of the most powerful rocket in the world Kennedy Space Center for his first commercial mission. SpaceX will launch its Falcon Heavy rocket for the Arabsat 6A commercial communications satellite in Saudi Arabia no earlier than March.

More: SpaceX Wins Falcon Heavy Contract for KSC Launch

More: Floating in space, the & # 39; Starman & # 39; of SpaceX hypnotizes the world

ULA launches will arrive soon

SpaceX will not be the only rocket company to occupy the skies of the Space Coast in the coming weeks.

On March 13, ULA will launch its Delta IV rocket for the Air Force's 10th broadband Satcom broadband communications satellite, from Launch Complex 47 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base.

The Space Coast will also see ULA's Atlas V rocket launch the Boeing Starliner's unassembled orbital flight test on the ISS at the earliest in April.

If unprepared SpaceX and Boeing test flights pass all exams and tests, the United States could attend a crewed flight test no earlier than July 2019, marking the first manned space flight since American soil since 2011.

Come back with the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team to cover this week's launch.

Jaramillo is a journalist of space trends at FLORIDA TODAY & # 39; HUI.

Contact Jaramillo at 321-242-3668

or [email protected].

Twitter: @ AntoniaJ_11

Support local journalism: Subscribe to FLORIDA TODAY at HUFID floridatoday.com/subscribe.

View of Cocoa Beach: Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Base Launch Station 40 with the Telstar 18 VANTAGE communication satellite on Monday, September 10, 2018.

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Launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base 40 launch station with the Telstar 18 VANTAGE communication satellite on Monday, September 10, 2018.

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket takes off from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Base on Sunday, September 9, 2018. The rocket will carry the Telstar communication satellite 18 VANTAGE.Mandatory (Credit: Craig Bailey / FLORIDA TODAY HUI via USA, today # 39; hui)

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Thursday launch

Rocket: SpaceX Falcon 9
Mission: first interplanetary mission for a Falcon 9 rocket
Launch time: 8:45 pm
Launch window: 32 minutes, at 21:17 east
Launching Complex: 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base
Landing: Of course I still love you drone ship

Join floridatoday.com Thursday for countdown updates and an online chat, including the live webcast of the SpaceX launch starting approximately 15 minutes before takeoff.

SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft appears for the first time at the top of a Falcon 9 rocket on the 39A platform of the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday, January 3, 2019.

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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and the Crew Dragon vehicle first set up for the Kennedy Space Center platform 39A on Thursday, January 3, 2019.

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